GFF Returns with Youssef Chahine Tribute & Record Egyptian Lineup

Not many press conferences begin with archival footage of a fire nearly engulfing their own venue, but El Gouna Film Festival has never been a typical festival. As the eighth edition approaches (October 16th to 24th, 2025), today’s Cairo press conference traced the festival’s journey through early obstacles and triumphs, while revealing a lineup of ambitious new initiatives and programming.

In a new partnership with the UN, GFF will now adopt a different humanitarian cause each year, extending its long-standing Cinema for Humanity motto. This edition GFF has chosen to spotlight food scarcity, with the opening of the festival also falling on World Food Day.

For the past seven editions GFF has spotlighted an Egyptian star, taking audiences back
The festival also announced that Egyptian star Menna Shalaby will receive the Creative Achievement Award, joining past honorees Marwan Hamed, Khaled El Sawy, Ahmed El Sakka, and Hend Sabry.
“So far, we’ve selected 60 films from over 42 countries,” revealed Artistic Director Marianne Khoury, noting that this year’s CineGouna Funding Platform also drew more than 290 applications.

Perhaps the most powerful moment of the day was the reveal of a Youssef Chahine Centennial Celebration. Kicking off in El Gouna before travelling internationally, the tribute will include an exhibition at the festival inspired by Chahine’s iconic film ‘El Bab El Hadid’ (1958), as well as events at his first Cairo home on Champollion Street.

This year also a record six feature Egyptian films will screen at GFF, four of which were supported by CineGouna funding and the other two are directorial debuts by women.